| Echinacea - a cure from common cold | ||
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Echinacea, a collection of nine related plant species indigenous to North America, is long believed by many to ward off common cold. This claim has been dismissed as a matter of faith. Now scientists say that the herbal remedy really works. An analysis of the evidence has found that taking the remedy more than halves a person’s chances of catching a cold and shortens the length of a cold by an average of 1.4 days. The research team led by Craig Coleman of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Connecticut found that taking Echinacea reduces the chances of catching cold by 58%. It may reduce the duration of illness and decrease the severity of cough, headache, and nasal congestion. People with impaired immune function may benefit from taking Echinacea during the winter months to prevent colds and flu, but healthy people do not require long-term preventative use.” It was more effective in natural circumstances, where colds were caught in the normal way, than it was in trials in which volunteers were inoculated directly with the common cold rhinovirus. “With over 200 viruses capable of causing the common cold, Echinacea could have modest effects against rhinovirus but marked effects against other viruses,” they say. One trial combined Echinacea with vitamin C, and that reduced colds by 86 per cent. But as only one trial used this particular combination, the authors could not be certain of the finding. The research concluded: “An analysis of the current evidence in the literature suggests that Echinacea has a benefit in decreasing the incidence and duration of the common cold.”
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